Coventry City injury latest as Frank Lampard confirms one player is available again
Frank Lampard has confirmed that goalkeeper Ben Wilson is available for Coventry City selection once again after more than three months out with injury. Wilson suffered a knee injury having just broken back into the starting XI in October, following appearances against Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.
Wilson, who was first choice under Lampard's predecessor Mark Robins during the club's run to the Championship play-off final in 2022-23, faced stiff competition in the former of summer import Oliver Dovin, who was selected ahead of him at the beginning of the season. Initially, Wilson was restricted to only EFL Cup minutes.
Dovin has, in Wilson's absence, regained the gloves and is currently Lampard's first choice ahead of his other existing option Brad Collins, who has also been handed various minutes across the course of this campaign.
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Wilson returned to training last month, but he experienced a minor setback which delayed his availability. Now, though, boss Lampard can call on him for the first time since his appointment - although he's backed young Dovin to continue improving as he continues to gain regular exposure.
"Ben is training now. He's available, maybe to start it's early days, but he's available having trained," Lampard confirmed. "Oliver is playing well, he's a young goalkeeper and I think there is a lot more to come from him as he gets better. He wants to do that. He'll have had a good feeling from last week of being the match winner of sorts. There are things to improve but he's a good talent, trains well and he's taken the opportunity. He needs to keep it going."
Elsewhere in terms of injuries, it's as you were. The key trio of Haji Wright, Ephron Mason-Clark and Ben Sheaf remain out for the foreseeable future, although thankfully there are no fresh concerns ahead of the welcoming of Bristol City this Saturday (3pm kick off).
"We haven't got Haji back yet," Lampard said. "It's a difficult injury, so we're working on getting him on the pitch but I can't give much more detailed information than that. Ephron is going to be a period of time, hopefully early February for Ephron and then Sheaf we know is out. Nothing has changed in the short term."
City have been hard to overcome at the CBS Arena since Lampard's installing as boss; while generally the Sky Blues have been inconsistent, having won three, drawn three and lost three of their nine league games under the new regime, they are unbeaten in the five home matches in all competitions. They have an opportunity to extend that run against Liam Manning's Robins on Saturday.
"I want more," Lampard added, acknowledging the positive home run. "I've only been here a short period of time and there is a lot of work to be done. It won't change overnight. I want to see more things that I like. I've seen some things, but other things not so - it's very normal, when you come into a club mid-season.
"Our home form has been good but it can be better, for sure. I'll be very demanding with that. These full weeks are great because they give you training time. It can sometimes be game, game, game but we're still very wary of recovery, having come off the back of that busy schedule.
"When you have a smaller squad you really have to be careful not to pick up injuries, but it does give you some good moments to train with the team, show videos and just spend time trying to get better. There's a balance with recovery and workload, but you're trying everyday to get the most out of it and improve."
